Nashville recording artist and country singer-songwriter Whey Jennings reveals his sophomore album, Baptized By Fire, [pre-save/pre-add] arriving everywhere digitally on March 27, 2026 by Dirt Rock Empire. American Songwriter [click to read/listen] revealed the album title today in an exclusive feature along with sharing a sneak peak of the album’s latest focus track “Take His Hand,” [pre-save/pre-add]. The Gospel-influenced song, which Jennings co-wrote with country recording artist Dustin Spears, is available everywhere digitally this Friday, November 21 and on YouTube (@WheyJennings) at 1pm EST.
“This song is very close to my heart because I’ve had people very close to me both die and survive cancer,” Jennings said. “Our lives are gifts from God. While we may not always know or understand God’s will, we must always trust that He does.”
Baptized By Fire finds the Jennings family disciple writing and singing more songs about his own life’s journey as a traveling troubadour, father, and man of God who was saved in 2020 during the pandemic from a life of drug and alcohol addiction.
Reflecting his artistic ambitions, Jennings co-wrote several of the songs from first time songwriting sessions with Jim “Moose” Brown (Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson, Jimmy Buffett), Tyler Booth (Josh Turner), and Whey’s second duet with The Voice’s breakout country recording artist Karen Waldrup. Balanced out with heartfelt ballads, honky-tonk rockers Baptized By Fire is a well-rounded album of songs rooted in traditional country, blues, with some notable Americana vibes in style and instrumentation.
Jennings and his co-writers’ expertly crafted lyrics are combined with top-tier production from Producer Gary Carter (Kenny Chesney, Marty Stuart, Alan Jackson) and his team, recording the tracks at Danny Parks Long Hollow Studio and his own GC studio. Guitar work comes from Grand Ole Opry band member Danny Parks, piano and organs by Mike Rojas (Ricky Skaggs, Hank Williams Jr.), a multi-winner of ACM’s Keyboard Player of the Year award, acoustic guitar by Joel Key (Cody Johnson, Thomas Rhett, and Toby Keith), steel guitar by Gary Carter, fiddle by Deanie Richardson (Del McCoury Band, Hank Williams Jr., Marty Stuart) and percussion by Garth Justice (Ricky Skaggs, Reba McEntire, Jo Dee Messina).
“This album is close to my heart and I’ve never felt more at home with my music as I do now,” Jennings said. “If you want to know who I really am as a person, the songs on this album present an open window to both my heart and soul as a songwriter.”
